Abstract
The growth of the economy is directly linked to the availability of quality power. As per the estimates of the Ministry of Power, Government of India [1], there is a power deficit to an extent of 8% in the country. It is planned to mitigate this shortfall by increasing the share of contribution of renewable sources in the energy portfolio. Renewable energy is also intended to be used in decentralized power generation systems in order to mitigate the power crises in the rural areas. This concept of decentralized power generation and distribution has been successfully demonstrated in two villages of India based on Indian Institute of Science (IISc) biomass gasification technology. One of them is a demonstration plant which had operated for more than 15 years in an un-electrified village named Hosahalli in Tumkur district, Karnataka. The other plant is related to the recently installed plant at Kasai village in Madhya Pradesh under the Village Energy
Security Program (VESP) of the Ministry for New and Renewable Sources (MNRE), Govt. of India. These two are presented as case studies in this paper along with the 5 kWe demonstration model working at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Energy and
Development (MGRIRED).

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TR Miles Technical Consultants Inc. www.trmiles.com
Portland, Oregon, United States of America

TR Miles Technical Consultants assist the development, design and installation of Agricultural and Industrial Systems for Materials Handling, Air Quality and Biomass Energy;
Renewable energy from biomass and wastes.